How to efficiently use 18 gears on a bicycle

Embaressed to be posting this really

Mrs Scotty1 brought bike at weekend - its an 18 gear bike but to be honest with you i dont know what gears to use and when

The right handle bar seems tro have about 6 settings on it and the left handle bar seems to have about 2-3 numbers

How do you work the 18 gear settings out of this

Im assuming that each of the settings on the left handle bar gives 6 settings on the right handle bar but what setting on left handle bar do you use for what cycling terrain and what do the numbers on the right handle bar relate too

So embaressed to be posting this

The 18 gears comes from 6 right hand settings (which relate to the 6 rear cogs) multiplied by the 3 left hand settings (which relate to the 3 chainwheels, down at the pedals). So in theory, you have 18 possible gears.

Now here's the trick. For the front chainwheels, small is lowest gear, and big is highest gear. But, for the rear cogs, big is lowest gear and small is highest gear. So your lowest gear (which you will probably never use) is;

L=1 (smallest chainwheel) and R=1 (biggest rear cog)

Your highest gear (for good downhills) is

L=3 (biggest chainwheel) and R=6 (smallest rear cog).

In reality, you don't have 18 usable gears. If you were to try riding with

L=1 (smallest chainwheel, on the inside) and R=6 (smallest cog, on the outside), the chain would be stretched at an arkward angle, and may get stretched or damaged. So you have about 8 usable gears, something like the following, from lowest to highest;

L=1 (smallest chainwheel) and R=1 (biggest rear cog)
L=1 (smallest chainwheel) and R=2
L=1 (smallest chainwheel) and R=3
L=2 (middle chainwheel) and R=3
L=2 (middle chainwheel) and R=4
L=2 (middle chainwheel) and R=5
L=3 (biggest chainwheel) and R=5
L=3 (biggest chainwheel) and R=6 (smallest cog)

Unless you are climbing mountains, you'll probably never need to use the lowest 2-3 of these gears. Try starting off at L=2 and R=3 and go from there.

But do take the time to get familiar with the gears. I cringe when I see (as happened last week) a lady walking her bike up a mild incline with the bike in a middling/high gear, when she would be well capable of cycling it in lower gear.

With these derailleur gears, you need to keep the pedals moving forward as you change gear. You can't change when stopped at the lights, so you need to change down gear as you approach a red light.

Well all what he said.

Its much easier to figure out when you are riding it. Basically you change gears so the effort of pushing the pedals is never too hard. After 10 minutes riding it will all be clear.

Yep, what Complainer said. Basically low numbers = low gears = each pedal stroke is only turning the wheels a small number of revolutions so it doesn't need much effort. In contrast, high numbers = high gears = each pedal stroke is turning the wheels more revolutions so it may take more effort but you cover more distance for the same number of pedal strokes. Changing up and down to the most comfortable gear for any given moment will become second nature after a while.

There are photos reinforcing what's already been said here.

I'd particularly echo Complainer's advice to gear down as you slow down to a stop. It takes loads of strain to start off from a stop in a high gear, and you shouldn't try to switch gears while stationary.

There's a pretty helpful bunch of cyclists in the cycling forum over on boards.ie too.

Enjoy!

Great post Complainer

I wish I had read that when I bought a new bike last year.

It was not easy to see from the controls which gear I was in. I was getting a lot of clicking noises and felt that the gears were not adjusted properly. But what was happening was as follows.

I thought that I could just shift up from

1-1 to 1-6
I did not realise that the angle above around 1-3 was not a good idea.

Since then, I have explained this to two other people who had problems with their gears.

I am dying to know how your conversation went with the woman pushing the bike up the small incline?

Brendan

Hi
I bought a bike just last week with gears like this, luckily they explained it to me pretty handily, as I haven't been on a bike in about 10 years!

As previously said, for normal biking, the left gears at 2 should be fine, and use the right gears to change up and down, it's just like a car, when you are going slowly go into a lower gear and when you are going fast you can change up. You can do it all while pedalling forwards, you don't backpedal like on the old bikes.

I took my bike out for a spin yesterday and got on ok - realised that I have to change down when slowing so that I am starting from a low gear.

Echo everything Complainer said.

You shouldn't really need to use anything outside the 2nd settings, and as stated, if you do shift to 1 or 3, be aware that you shouldn't use the full range of 1-8. But unless you travelling in very mountainous areas staying at the 2nd setting will be more than enough.

Another +1 for changing down when stopping or slowing. You get used to it, but at the 2nd gear (left) and at 3 (right) is fine for starting from a standstill and then move up the gears as you go on.

Brendan Burgess said:

I am dying to know how your conversation went with the woman pushing the bike up the small incline?

Brendan

Click to expand...

No conversation, as it happens - maybe just a disdainful look from me at her. I pick my battles when on the bike, and save the 'conversations' for those errant car drivers who block my route.

annR said:

... realised that I have to change down when slowing so that I am starting from a low gear.

Click to expand...

If you get caught out and have to stop suddenly without getting the chance to shift down. Once stopped, hold the front brakes, push the bars forward enough to lift the back wheel off the ground, shift down and turn the pedal. Half turn should be enough to do the trick with decent and properly adjusted gears.

Also, regular of the chain will keep the gear change running more smoothly for longer with the added benefit of no black gunk to mark hands/clothes.
Leo

We've had the bike for a few weeks now and seems to be having problems with the gears


If we have the left gear shift at Level 2 there is like a clicking sound coming from the bike. When i have the left gear shift at Level 1 this noise does not seem to appear

Reading the other replies to original post - people seem to be saying that having Left gear lever at 1 and the right gear lever at 4-6 is not good idea as it too much of stretch on the chain and could cause damage but if we have the left gear level at 2 and the right gear lever at 4-6 then you hear this clicking or clankingsound

Also when changing the gears in the right level, the changing of the gears does not seem to be happen easily. When changing gears the gears dont seeem to change cleanly and there is a lot of clanking sound and the gears seems to change of their own accord. When changing the right gears are you mean to shift up and down in slow montion or in one smooth movement

What are we doing wrong here?

Thanks

Hi Scotty, sounds like your mechanism just needs a little tuning.

See this Park Tool guide on tuning the front & rear derailleurs. There is usually an adjuster on the shifter mechanism itself, little barrel bolt where the cable exits. Try turn this a full turn anti-clockwise and see if that improves the situation. Keep adjusting this in/out to try and find the point where the shifts are smooth across all rear cogs when in the middle front cog.

What components do you have?

As a general rule of thumb you should aim to turn the pedals at a constant rate up hill and down and use the gears to control this. When you come to the bottom of a hill then move down to an easier gear and keep the legs turning at the same speed as before , your speed will drop but the effort should remain constant. Likewise when you reach the top and start down then move up through the gears to keep the leg speed and effort constant while the speed increases.
The next obvious question is "what speed should my legs turn " . Well racing cyclists will aim to keep this at above 80 revs per minute which is considered to be the most efficent so if you can achieve anything close to that you are in the right area. To count the revs just pick one foot and count each time it reaches top or bottom of pedal stroke. It is always easier on the body to pedal fast and light rather than churn around a big gear.
Enjoy your cycling and good luck.

scotty1 said:

Reading the other replies to original post - people seem to be saying that having Left gear lever at 1 and the right gear lever at 4-6 is not good idea as it too much of stretch on the chain and could cause damage but if we have the left gear level at 2 and the right gear lever at 4-6

Click to expand...

As Complainer explained, as you get to L1-R5/R6, it's time to change to L3 and move up from there if necessary.

That said, L2-R4 is the mid-point of all your gears so you you should be able to use this setting without any difficulty. A slight adjustment of the type outlined by Leo is the way to go.